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Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw at the Nou Camp in their La Liga fixture tonight by Valencia. Lionel Messi scored a rare headed goal after Jaume Domenech saved his penalty, but Jordi Alba kept the ball alive and his deflected cross fell kindly for the Argentine who dived to find the back of the net.
The hosts had equalised with the last action of the first half after Mouctar Diakhaby had capitalised on some slack Barca defending to head home in the 29th minute for the visitors.
Barca took the lead early on after the break as defender Ronald Araujo scored in amazing fashion from inside the area. The visitors' search for the equaliser yielded success when Maxi Gomez turned in a cross from Jose Gaya, denying the Catalan giants a third league win in a row.
Here we will take a look at the five talking points from the game as Blaugrana drop to fifth in the standings with their third draw of the campaign.
#5 Barcelona's defensive problems persist
Barcelona did not have a great start to the game and there were some serious issues in the defence as they allowed Valencia the time to settle, which meant a lot of pressure from the visitors' on the counter.
Diakhaby scored the opener in the game after being allowed a free header in the box by the Barca defenders following a routine corner. Even before the goal was scored Gonçalo Guedes made a couple of dangerous runs into the box, beating Aruajo for pace but missing narrowly on both occasions.
Koeman started an attack-minded line-up tonight that fielded just one holding midfielder and were regularly caught out at the back. They have kept just four clean sheets in 13 games now and addressing the defensive issues might be the top of the list for manager Ronaldo Koeman.
#4 Barcelona can't find consistency in results this season
From their 13 games this term, Barcelona have six wins, three draws and four losses. What the results tell us is that the Catalans have struggled for consistency this season. They have dropped points against sides like Cadiz and Getafe while they have not been at their best in big games against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
They have not won more than two games in a row in the La Liga this season. This was the seventh time Barca have failed to take maximum points in 13 league outings this term and as a result, they are now eight points behind leaders Atletico.
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#3 Barcelona concede again from a set-piece
Barcelona have the joint-worst record of conceding from corners this season and so far have conceded four times from the corner, a stat only matched by 19th-placed Huesca.
Three of the four defenders in the squad tonight had an average age of 21, so they weren't exactly the most experienced and need more training on how to deal with incoming set-pieces. The way Diakhaby was given far too much time and space to head in Soler's delivery, is simply not expected from Barca.
Gerard Pique's absence at the heart of the defence was clearly felt and Koeman could only hope that in the absence of the veteran defender, the youngsters will step up in training and avoid conceding from set-pieces from here on.
#2 Jaume Domenech kept his side in the game despite Messi's goal following a missed penalty
Jaume Domenech was outstanding tonight and made seven saves to deny Barcelona the winning goal and also almost prevented Messi from scoring the opener by saving the Barcelona captain's penalty, only to concede on the follow-up.
Of the seven saves, four of them were from the inside box. In addition to his display between the sticks, he also recorded a 100% pass accuracy.
If not for his heroics tonight, the hosts could've easily secured the three points from the game.
#1 Lionel Messi equals Pele's record for most goals for a single club
Lionel Messi has equalled yet another all-time world record tonight. After scoring against Valencia he has joined the legendary Pelé as the highest goalscorer ever for a single club. The Argentine talisman has now scored a staggering 643 goals for The Catalans across 17 seasons and 748 games.
He saw his effort from the penalty spot saved by Domenech but Jordi Alba was there to collect the rebound and Messi made no mistakes in connecting to his cross and dived in to equalise for the hosts and reach the commendable milestone.
Though he could not add another goal to break the record in this game, he'll surely get on the scoresheet in the following games and likely ensure that the game ends in a win for his side.
